Purcom

• Topic Overview


  • Culturally Appropriate Terms, Expressions, and Images

  2. Cultural and Intercultural Awareness
• Culture is often defined as the learned patterns and attitudes shared by a group of people
• What is Culture?


  PROGRAMMING OF THE MIND (Hofstede, 1984)
• Intercultural communication


  Relates to interactions among people from different cultures
• Cross-Cultural communication


  Comparing two or more different cultures; so cross-cultural communication examines the varying communication styles of different cultural groups
• Communication in an Intercultural context is very susceptible to miscommunication
• High-context and Low-context Cultures

  High-context cultures consider sender and receiver backgrounds when interpreting messages. Nonverbal cues often have a greater impact on message comprehension than indirect verbal cues.

  Low-context cultures prioritize direct communication and may downplay non-verbal cues. Relationships have a limited influence on communication. Explicit exchange of ideas and information is emphasized.
• Potential Areas for Misinterpretation in Intercultural Communication


  • Opening and Closing Conversations

  Taking Turns During Conversations

  Interrupting

  Using Silence

  Using appropriate topics of conversation

  Using humor

  Knowing how much to say

  Sequencing elements during a conversation
• Varieties of Communication


  Purposive Communication
• Culture extends beyond geography. Differences can be shaped by gender, age, religion, education, position, and politics. For instance, religion often defines gender roles, impacting interactions between sexes.
• National University Clark
• Culturally Appropriate Terms, Expressions, and Images


  Sensitivity to Gender, Race, Class, etc.
• Features of Spoken Communication

  Features of Written Communication
• Cultural Awareness


  Understanding and taking account of the societal and cultural factors involved in gender-based exclusion and discrimination
• Identify and compare the key features of spoken communication and written communication

  1. Recognize the importance of adapting communication to different situations and audiences

  2. Apply their understanding of the features of written and spoken communication
• Cultural Sensitivity


  Aim of understanding and taking account of the societal and cultural factors involved in gender-based exclusion and discrimination
• Multimodal text


  Texts that use a combination of two or more communication modes
• Spoken Communication


  • Oral Communication
  • One of the forms of verbal communication
  • The fastest and easiest way to express our feelings, thoughts, ideas, and opinions with others
• Semiotic


  The study of meaning-making, exploring signs and symbols as important components of communication
• A gesture that is acceptable in one culture might be meaningless or offensive in another.
• Written Communication


  • Utilizes written words
  • One of the forms of verbal communication
  • The most common form of business communication
  • Can take place traditionally or modernly
• Guidelines to Help Exhibit Cultural Awareness


  • Have a clear sense of your own ethnic, cultural, and racial identity

  Be aware of your stereotypes

  Understand that you will likely be perceived as a person with power and racial privilege

  Take any opportunity to put yourself in places where you can learn about differences
• Mode


  A communication method, e.g. written language, spoken language, visual, auditory, gestural, tactile, and spatial patterns of meaning
• What are their obvious differences? What are their salient features?
• Gender Sensitivity


  The aim of understanding and taking account of the societal and cultural factors involved in gender-based exclusion and discrimination
• Spoken Communication


  • Oral, using spoken words and vocal tone
  • Transitory; occurs in real-time
  • Immediate; instant interaction with the audience
  • Includes gestures, facial expressions, and body language
  • Interactive, allowing real-time feedback and responses
  • Crucial for conveying emotions and nuances in speech
  • Heavily influenced by the context, including the setting, participants, and cultural factors
  • Requires active listening skills for comprehension
  • Often spontaneous and unscripted
  • Immediate feedback from the decoder
  • Relies on engaging the audience through tone, emotion, and interaction
  • Can be informal or formal depending on the context
  • Often involves vocal delivery, body language, and visual aids
• Gender-Sensitive Language


  Language that makes women and men and those who do not conform to the binary gender system visible and addressed as persons of equal value, dignity, integrity and respect
• Medium


  The route or system through which communications are transmitted
• Written Communication


  • Using text, symbols, and visual elements
  • Permanent; can be revised and reviewed
  • Delayed; typically, not synchronous with the reader
  • Lacks non-verbal cues; relies solely on text and formatting
  • Less interactive; responses may be delayed
  • Absent; relies on punctuation and writing style
  • Context is set by the writer but may be less dependent on real-time factors
  • Not required. Requires strong reading and comprehension skills
  • Generally planned and scripted, allowing for revision
  • Typically provided after the reader has processed the content
  • Relies on engaging the reader through content, style, and structure
  • Can range from informal to highly formal, depending on the purpose
  • Presented through written text, with the structure and formatting conveying information
• Political correctness is nothing more than treating others with respect.
• Forms of Multimodal Texts


  • Print-based (e.g. books, comics, posters, magazines)
  • Actual performance (e.g. debate, live speech)
  • Computer-based (e.g. slide presentations, emails, e-books, blogs, e-posters, web pages, social media, animations, films, movies, video games)
• Race and Ethnicity


  The concept of race has changed across cultures and eras ranging from being based on ancestral and familial ties to theorists assigning categories of race based on geographic region, ethnicity, skin color, and a wide range of other factors.
• Semiotic systems to make meanings in multimodal texts

  • Written or Linguistic Meaning
  • Audio Meaning
  • Visual Meaning
  • Gestural Meaning
  • Spatial Meaning
• Religion Sensitivity


  Fear or apprehension of the unknown is a large contributor to inadvertently creating communication barriers. This is especially common when faced with new or different spiritual beliefs and practices.
• Written or Linguistic Meaning


  Refers to the traditional understanding of language and its use in communication, including written and spoken language, grammar, vocabulary, and syntax
• Beliefs to be Sensitive About

  • Which topics are appropriate to talk about

  What is considered appropriate clothing

  Breaks for rituals, such as prayer at certain times of the day
• Audio Meaning


  Refers to the meaning that is conveyed through sound, typically in the form of spoken language, music, sound effects, or any auditory elements in communication
• Visual Meaning


  Refers to the meaning conveyed through still and moving images, using color, page layouts, vectors, viewpoint, screen formats, visual symbols, shot framing, subject distance and angle, camera movement, subject movement
• Gestural Meaning


  Refers to the meaning conveyed through movement of body, hands, and eyes, facial expressions, demeanors, and body language
• Spatial Meaning


  Refers to the meaning conveyed through environmental and architectural spaces, and the use of proximity, direction, layout, position and organization of objects in space